


Venom Bites (Deadly Love for Sure)

by GreenCat42



Series: Voltron One Shots [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, One Shot, Some angst, klance, love bug fic, theres some fluff in there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 19:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12087582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenCat42/pseuds/GreenCat42
Summary: The paladins (minus Shiro) are sent to an alien planet to gather supplies when Lance is attacked by a swarm of vicious bugs. Two bites later and he's smitten by a certain red paladin.





	Venom Bites (Deadly Love for Sure)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote another love bug fic, oops. This one was fun to write and ended up being longer than I thought it was initially going to be.

            “Paladins we are in need of some supplies. After scanning several local planets, this one has what we need,” Allura said pointing to a small orange planet on the holo screen. “We should arrive in a few vargas.”

            Lance let the rest of her speech fade from his mind, glancing towards Keith. They were still searching for Shiro and he’d noticed the change in the red paladin’s demeanor. Tense shoulders and the dark circled currently clear under his eyes. “Keith, I want you to lead the expedition,” Allura said bringing Lance’s focus back.

            “Why Keith? What does he know about alien stuff?” Lance protested.

            Turning, Keith glared at him. “Keith is perfectly fine at leading Lance. I expect you to listen to him while you’re down on Yirnga.”

            Allura used her commander voice, one that made Lance straighten. It was oddly similar to his Mama’s too. “Yes Princess,” Lance said.

            “Good, now I want you all to be in your paladin armor and ready to go down to Yirnga once we arrive. Two lions should suffice, since it’s such a small planet. The red and green lions should do.”

            They were dismissed, Allura turning back to the holo screens to scan for Shiro. Lance knew that’s what she was doing, even if she didn’t say so. Putting his hands behind his head, Lance swiveled around heading towards the hallway that led to his quarters. The rest of the paladins were already ahead of him. He spotted Keith, their rooms close. “Good luck leader,” Lance drawled before the door swished open.

            Keith glanced towards him with an odd look on his face, but Lance ignored it and closed the door.

            When the castle closed in on the planet, Lance realized that it wasn’t just orange, but yellow and purple stripes that curved around the surface of the planet. “I’m riding with Hunk,” Pidge chirped grinning and grabbing the bigger teen’s arm.

            Keith just stared at them and rolled his eyes. “C’mon,” he said putting his helmet on.

            Lance just shrugged and followed him into the red lion. It was the first time he’d been in Red, but she wasn’t as beautiful as his own. Blue rumbled sadly in his mind. She wanted to go too, but Lance had to tell her no.  “Uh, should I just like stand behind you or something?”

            There weren’t any spare seats and Lance wondered if it was going to be like when they all piled into Blue and flew to the castle of lions. “Sure, just like hold on or something,” Keith replied.

            Lance settled behind the seat, gloved hands settling on the red material. “You ready?”

            No, Lance wasn’t ready, but before he could yell Red had flown out of her hanger and was met with the green lion already in space. A holo panel popped up to the right with Pidge and Hunk. “Took you two long enough,” they said. “We thought we’d have to come get you or something.”

            Hunk squinted, giving the two a peering look. “Let’s go.”

            Holding on was an understatement, and Lance guessed he knew how the others felt when he piloted Blue for the first time. _‘I’m regretting my decisions so much,’_ he thought clutching at the seat his fingers white knuckled under the gloves.

            Red flew effortlessly under Keith’s guidance, and Lance wondered if a few of the aerials Red did were just to show off. _‘Blue is just as good a flyer as Red,’_ Lance thought firmly, not thinking of how much faster Red was.   

            Both paladins watched as Red flew down through the atmosphere. There were clouds, but they were tinted yellow and layered; thick and electricity crackled around them. Red stayed away from the clouds. There were red rivers of something flowing as they neared the surface, tall straight trees growing in patches. Red landed in a clearing next to Green. “Ready?”

            Lance uncurled his hands, shaking them out a little from the cramps. “Yep,” he said popping the p at the end.

            Pidge was already out of Green holding up one of their contraptions, which was scanning the area. Hunk ambled down off of Green’s ramp. He settled a large pack on his back. “You survived,” Hunk said grinning at Lance.

            “Sure,” he retorted. “Mr. Ace Pilot here flew like a maniac.”

            “Not like your flying is any better,” Keith grumbled.

            “Admit that last barrel roll was just so you could look good.”

            “Enough you two, c’mon the source Allura wants us to find is this way,” Pidge said interrupting them.

            Rolling his eyes, Lance huffed and ignored Keith hurrying after Pidge. “Why did all of us have to come with if you were just going to do your thing with that doohickey,” Lance whined.

            The atmosphere was hot and humid beating down on their armor. Sweat was already soaking his hair and he could feel it in places sweat shouldn’t ever be. “Because Allura said we had to,” Keith said. “I’m in charge, so you have to listen to me.”

            Hunk sighed. “I thought you two were doing better with the whole bickering.”

            Lance simply shrugged. “I just want to get this over with so I can go back to the castle and shower.”

            “For once I agree with you,” Keith grumbled under his breath.

            “Well at least we’re almost there,” Pidge said. “And great leading Keith. I’m the one who took point anyways.”

            Keith looked down, his shoulders falling just a little. Great, now Lance felt a little guilty about poking at him and trying to get a rise out of him. “Don’t you worry, I won’t tell Allura.”

            Pidge patted him on the shoulder. The forest was becoming denser and it was harder for the paladins to make it through the brush. “Here,” Keith said pulling out his bayard.

            “Good idea Keith,” Hunk said.

            “I wonder what Allura would think of you using your bayard to hack through alien plants?” Lance asked.

            The hacking grew a bit more intense and Keith didn’t respond. Pidge just glared a little at him, following behind the red paladin. It was useful to be honest and made it easier to get through the thick alien vines.

            After what felt like hours they reached the apparent source of the material Allura wanted. It was a large round clearing, oddly perfectly round. Eight trees grew around equidistance from each other. “This clearing is giving me weird vibes,” Hunk said sidling closer to Lance.

            “Yeah, like how did these trees grow so neat.”

            “I dunno bro.”

            “Hunk I need you, you have the supplies.”

            “Wish me luck,” Hunk said leaving Lance.

            Curiosity was something that usually got Lance into trouble, that or flirting with the wrong person. He strolled over to one of the trees and poked the trunk. They were an odd dark brown with bioluminescent yellow veins curling up and the leaves were square. “You probably shouldn’t be touching that,” Keith said.

            “It’s not doing anything, I can poke strange alien trees if I want,” Lance said.

            That’s when the leaves started moving. Not because of wind and the loud sudden sound of wings flooded the area. “Lance what did you do?” Keith said.

            The tree was now bare, the strange square leaves swirling around Lance. He could see eyes and hear loud chattering hissing, but he was completely surrounded. “Lance!” Keith called.

            Tiny sharp feet landed on him, clawing at his armor. Lance tried to seal his helmet, but two of the alien bugs got in and he felt two sharp pricks on his neck. Heat flooded his system, everything fading quickly; the last thing he saw was Keith’s worried face.

           

+++

 

            Abruptly Lance regained consciousness his eyes snapping open. The door to the healing pod swished open and he stumbled out. “What-?” he stammered.

            A strong pair of hands steadied him, tightening around him. “We thought you were dead!”

            “I’m fine Hunk.”

            Pidge stood off to the side fiddling with their glasses. They met his eyes, their own wet and red rimmed. The one person who wasn’t there was Keith. “Where’s mullet?” Lance asked.

            A strange emptiness flooded his chest, something was wrong. He needed to see Keith right now. “Good to see you up and about my boy,” Coran said leaning back from the holo panel. “Everyone was quite worried about you.”

            The door swished open and excitement rushed into Lance’s chest, but it was Allura not Keith. Disappointment filled his chest weighing heavy. “I heard you were up,” Allura said smiling. “I’m glad, how do you feel?”

            Lance flexed his hands, they felt very empty. Chewing on his lower lip he tried to swallow the words, but they spilled out. “I need to find Keith, where is he?”

            Allura gave him a curious look exchanging glances with Coran. “Lance, what do you remember?”

            When Lance tried to recall what had happened, it was very fuzzy. He did remember Keith’s face though right before everything went dark. “Keith, I saw him. He was worried. I gotta go find him though,” Lance said struggling out of Hunk’s hold.

            “You have to stay here Lance. You were bitten by an alien bug, well two of them, we don’t know what kind of side effects they’ll have on a human,” Allura said settling a firm hand on his shoulder.

            “I don’t want to stay here,” Lance said. “I want to find Keith.”

            He twisted his hands together giving her the sad puppy dog eyes that usually worked on his Mama. No luck, Allura kept a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go get Keith,” Hunk offered. “I mean what could possibly happen?”

            Allura opened her mouth, then shut it. “Fine.”

            No one said anything when Lance started pacing, but Allura stopped him twice when he tried to escape. It wasn’t fair, his chest hurt. He felt like crying, but no Lance wouldn’t cry in front of them. He wasn’t that weak, but it was taking too long. “Are you sure I can’t go find him?”

            “For the third time, no Lance,” Coran said.

            The ginger haired Altean tried to convince Lance to do some scans, but Lance refused until Keith was there. Pidge watched him, their eyes curious. The pain was getting unbearable, tears starting to fill his eyes. Lance rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. Then the door swished open and Keith walked in.

            The pain in his chest disappeared immediately and Lance always thought he was attractive, but now; how could no one see how beautiful that boy was. Before anyone could stop him, he raced over to Keith and wrapped his arms around him. “Keith!” Lance cried.

            He apparently wasn’t ready for the blue paladin to come barreling at him, and both teenagers ended on the ground, Lance curled around him. “I missed you, are you ok?” Lance asked. “You were so worried.”  

            Lance couldn’t help the words spilling out, but he did notice the way the other teen was stiff under his arms. “Lance why are you hugging me?”

            “Because I missed you,” Lance replied nuzzling into Keith’s neck. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you after I woke up.”

            Keith’s face was bright red, eyes wide in panic. “Is this one of the side-effects?” he gasped out his voice strained.

            “I’m afraid so,” Coran said with a sigh. “You were the last person he saw. I thought this creature was extinct.”

            “It was on Altea,” Allura said. “Lance was bitten twice by what we know as the bloargbodnen. It hides in trees, trying to imitate leaves. Then when it finds an unexpecting victim it swarms and attacks. Sometimes the victim dies from the bites, but Lance was only bitten twice, he was lucky.”

            She pulled up a holo image, it matched the vibrant yellow bugs. Keith swallowed hard. “So, Lance could’ve died?”

            “If he hadn’t been wearing his paladin armor, most likely. It looks like Earthlings don’t react well to their venom. Normally it wears off in a quintent or two, but it might be much longer,” Coran said.

            There was an annoying itching on Lance’s neck that he was just now noticing. Bandages were wrapped around his neck, but he scratched over them. “Stop that,” Keith snapped. “You’ll just make it worse.”

            How was his voice so soft and soothing? Lance sighed and listened letting his hands drop. “You know best.”

            Lance liked how Keith smelled, soap and a musky scent. “You smell nice,” he muttered burying his face into Keith’s shoulder.

            “Can someone at least help me get him off?” Keith said in a strangled voice.

            “Why do you want me off?” Lance asked. “Do you not-not like my hugs?”

            The pain was back in his chest, threatening to choke him. “No Lance, don’t ugh-don’t cry please. I’m sorry,” Keith rambled panicked. “You can hug me all you want.”

            Keith awkwardly wrapped an arm around Lance. “Do you think we could make an antidote?” Pidge finally spoke looking at the holo images.

            “It couldn’t hurt to try, but I highly doubt it. These creatures were hunted to extinction on Altea because of the damage they did. My cousin lost her best friend to them. It can drive some species mad,” Coran said twisting his mustache nervously.

            “That’s not going to happen to Lance, though right?”

            “I highly doubt it,” Coran said chuckling.

            Keith wondered if he was lying. For now he hoped he wasn’t. “Hey Lance, could you uhm maybe get up, my butt is falling asleep.”

            The blue paladin was fast, releasing him. “Here,” Lance said holding a hand down.

            Keith stared at it for a minute, then took it. Lance pulled him to his feet, then tangled their hands together, leaning over to rest his head on Keith’s shoulder. “You should’ve told me earlier.”

            Lance sighed happily, he got to hold hands with Keith. He wore fingerless gloves, the soft leather a contrast to the calloused fingers of Keith’s hand, and Lance squeezed his hand. “Lance can I do the scans now?” Coran asked.

            “Yes, I want to find out what’s going on in your head,” Pidge said.

            “Can I still hold onto Keith’s hand?” Lance asked.

            “Of course, come here my boy,” Coran said.

            Hunk had stayed silent the whole time, worry in his eyes. He pursed his lips thinly, but he didn’t want to blurt out Lance’s secret. It was hard to see him acting all lovely dovey towards the person he did like in secret. “Pidge do you need some help?”

            “Sure, sit on this table Lance.”

            Lance only listened to Pidge after Keith nudged him along. It was unnerving to Hunk. They didn’t bicker or argue and Lance listened to everything Keith said. He took a scanner from Pidge, the blue light bathing his best friend. “Are you ok Hunk?” Lance asked.

            “Yeah, just peachy bro.”

            “Hmm this is interesting,” Coran said when the results appeared.

            “What’s interesting?” Hunk asked.

            His eyes widened a little when he saw the results. “Lance could you and Keith maybe go outside the medical bay for a bit,” Pidge said.

            “Is that ok with you Keith?” Lance asked.

            “Yeah,” but he glanced towards Hunk trying to telepathically ask him to tell him the results.

            Hunk just shrugged back and Keith shot him a glare, traitors. He did let Lance lead him out of the med bay, then Lance didn’t stop, he kept going. “Uhm Lance where are we going?”

            “I don’t know, I thought we could take a walk.”

            “Maybe we should stay close by, just in case they need you again.”

            “Oh ok, that’s a great idea!” he chirped blinding Keith with a smile.

            Lance didn’t let go of his hand and he glanced over at Keith’s lips. They were soft looking, he wanted to kiss him. “Keith?”

            “Mmm?”

            “Can I kiss you?”

            Keith’s cheeks flooded red all the way to his ears, eyes wide. “What? Why?”

            “Because you’re gorgeous and I like you.”   

            “I- uh I don’t think that’s a good idea Lance.”

            Pursing his lips, Lance leaned towards Keith. “You do have good ideas, but I want to kiss you.”

            Swallowing hard, Keith tried to lean back, but Lance just kept shortening the distance until he was pressed up against the wall. “Why shouldn’t I kiss you?”

            Using the other hand that wasn’t holding Keith’s hand, Lance cupped his face, brushing his thumb over Keith’s cheek. _‘So soft,’_ Lance thought.

            He was so close, he could see the purple flecks in Keith’s eyes, their breath mingling. “Lance-I we-uhm…”

            The doors to the med bay swished open and both teens froze. “Oh for- I was hoping this wouldn’t happen,” Pidge said pinching the bridge of their nose. “C’mon you two. We have to talk to you both, now.”

            The now was firm and demanding. Lance sighed, he’d just have to kiss Keith some other time. He was a little upset they were interrupted, grumbling under his breath. Keith ducked around Lance pulling him back into the med bay.

            Allura, Hunk, and Coran were waiting. Hunk chewed on his lower lip and twisted his hands together. “What’s the results?” Keith demanded.

            “The venom was strong and the scans say it’ll be at least a week before he’s back to his normal self,” Pidge started.

            “A week?” Keith erupted along with Lance’s gleeful same words.

            “We don’t know for sure if it’ll wear off in a week, but that’s the predictions,” Hunk said.

            “So, what am I going to do with Lance, deal with all this for a week?”

            “Unfortunately so, but we’ll try to lessen practice and hope no Galra attacks.”

            “I’ll protect you,” Lance said reaching over to hug Keith’s arm squeezing their intertwined hands.

            “My hero,” Keith deadpanned.

            “I want to scan Lance every day and see what his levels are,” Coran said. “We need to monitor this in case something else like this happens.”

            Pidge shuddered to think if they got bit by one of those things. “I’m going to try and work on an antidote.”

            “Why?”

            “Lance, you had venom injected into your system, alien venom.”

            “Pidge is right, you need to get better,” Keith said.

            “Oh, as long as I get to be with you, I’ll be fine.”

            The look Lance gave him made something jolt in his chest, a flip of his heart. “Oh ok.”

            “Do you need us anymore?” Lance asked.

            “No, go do whatever you want,” Pidge said flapping a hand at the two. “I’m gonna start on the antidote.”

            Hunk watched them. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe they should have a chaperone?” he asked.

            “I’ll be good I promise,” Lance said.

            The fact that Lance was hugging Keith’s arm wasn’t very reassuring. “Boundaries Lance.”

            “You got it,” Lance said with a smile.

            Hunk sighed hoping the venom wouldn’t change his best friend that much. “C’mon Keith,” Lance said.

            “Where are we going?”

            “On a walk.”

            Keith glanced back trying to catch Hunk’s eye and tell him to stop and for Lance to come back. Hunk did no such thing and Keith followed after Lance

 

+++

 

            The next three days were hard. One Lance couldn’t sleep in his room and insisted on spending the nights with Keith. That had its own problems because he’d caught Lance watching him sleep at least once. Also, Lance was a heater and liked to cuddle. Keith never said no to cuddling, he enjoyed it himself. If Lance had naturally asked Keith to cuddle he would’ve said yes, not this love bug venom induced cuddles.

            Two Lance followed him everywhere, except his bathroom and shower. That was just too much to deal with. Instead he had to wait outside until Keith was done. Then it was hand latching and more touching.

            And the third hardest part was just how protective Lance was. When they trained, which didn’t last long, Lance made sure Keith was absolutely safe. Everyone joked about their sharpshooter, but Keith’s eyes had widened when he’d literally shot a droid from across the room, perfectly between the eyes right before Keith was planning on slicing it in half.  He’d just shot finger guns at Keith and continued protecting him.

            It was pure luck that the Galra didn’t attack, but their luck had run out. The alarms blared and Allura yelled for them to get to their lions. Lance took a minute to wake up, sitting up blearily. His hair was stuck all over and drool had smeared his face mask. “Mmm Keith, get up.”

            Keith cracked an eye open noticing the blaring lights flashing in his eyes. “I’m up.”

            Warm hands helped him up and he couldn’t help but smile a little when Lance hurried into the bathroom to wash off his face mask. “I’m gonna go to my room and get changed,” he called.

            He didn’t apparently change fast enough, because a banging on his door made him start. With his shoulder armor still half off, he opened the door. A frantic Lance bolted inside. “Why did you leave?” he whined wrapping his arms around Keith.

            “I told you I was going to change.”

            Armor was not comfortable for hugging. “Lance, I need to finish getting dressed. We need to get to our lions and go fight the Galra.”

            “Fine,” Lance grumbled letting go.

            He helped Keith get dressed. It was the fastest he’d gotten into his armor and Lance couldn’t help but grab his hand and hurry along.

            Worry settled hard in Lance’s stomach. He’d have to let Keith go and fight. When they separated to go to their lions, Lance impulsively pulled up Keith’s hand and brushed his lips over his knuckles. “Stay safe.”

            Keith flushed hard, the feeling of Lance’s lips ghosting on his gloved hand. “Keith buddy, we gotta go.”

            Even though they couldn’t form Voltron, the lions were enough to fight back. Luckily it was just a small battalion of Galra fighters, not a full battle cruiser. Lance stuck to Keith’s side, blasting the Galra ships with Blue. She rumbled happily in his head, purring loudly. It was comforting to have her in his head and it distracted him from the fact that Keith was in danger and that his heart raced.

            With victory so close, Lance let down his guard just a little and a Galra fighter slipped in, blasting heavily at the red lion. Yelling, Lance let Blue’s ice blast hit the enemy ship. Then Blue’s jaws crunched over the metal and explosion lighting up the void of space. Fumbling, Lance opened a channel.

            Keith’s face popped up on the holo window. “Are you ok? You aren’t hurt are you?”

            “No Lance, I’m fine. Red can take the hits.”

            “Oh ok, I’m glad.”

            Still worry soured in his stomach, fear closing up his throat. He believed Keith, but he was going to check him over when they got back to the castle.

            Before Keith could even get out of Red, Lance strode over and grabbed his hands. He took a long look over Keith with critical eyes. “What are you doing?” Pidge asked.

            “I’m making sure he’s ok!” Lance snapped.

            “I told you Lance, Red can take the hits,” Keith said.

            Lance puffed up his cheeks and let the air blow out slowly. “I was worried ok?”

            Hunk shook his head and joined Pidge. The danger was over, but Lance still wanted to make sure Keith was safe. “Lance I’m going to go shower now. Can you give me like twenty minutes of space for once?”

            _‘Oh,’_ Lance thought.

            He was being overbearing again. Hunk had talked to him the second day about being overwhelming. “Ok, I’m sorry.”

            Keith opened and shut his mouth, jaw tight. “Thanks Lance.”

            It was hard watching Keith walk away from him. “You’re doing great Lance,” Hunk said.

            “Hunk am I being overbearing again?”

            “A little, but I know you’re under the influence of the venom.”

            Lance’s shoulder slumped a little. It wasn’t his fault, he constantly wanted Keith, wanted to touch him and especially kiss him. “I’ll try harder.”

            He left Keith alone as long as he could bear it. It was so hard, the pain in his chest getting worse and worse. Keith actually searched him out this time. “Are you ok?” he asked.

            Lance was stiffly sitting on the couch in the common room. He had his hands twisted together, trying to imagine Keith’s hand was there instead. “Yeah I’m great,” Lance replied.

            It was odd how the pain went away when Keith had arrived and let Lance take his hand. After dinner, Lance tried to follow the suggestions Hunk had given hm.

Boundaries, Lance tried to follow them, but it was so hard with Keith. He was so beautiful and kind and Lance wanted to follow him everywhere. That night he tried sleeping by himself in his own room. Sleep took forever, and Lance tossed and turned for at least an hour before he could fall asleep.

           

            _Keith was fighting the Galra. His armor was cracked, the black underarmor cut in a few places stained red with blood. Lance called out to him, aiming his bayard rifle. He had to save Keith, he had to protect him. Then Keith gasped, one of the droids holding a smoking gun._

_Before Lance could shoot, he fell. Screaming, Lance jumped down and ran over to him shooting the Galra droids. He knelt down pulling Keith into his lap. “Sorry I couldn’t protect you,” Lance sobbed._

_“It’s ok,” Keith whispered, then his mouth went slack, eyes glassy and unresponsive, body still._

            Lance shot up in bed gasping hard his heart racing painfully. Scrambling to his feet, he ran out of his room and towards Keith. He had to make sure Keith was ok.

            Knocking, he shifted nervously from foot to foot. The door swished open and a very adorable and sleepy Keith stood in front of him. Lance stepped forwards grabbing his shirt. “I had to make sure you were ok.”

            There was apparently enough panic in Lance’s voice for Keith to not grump about being woken up in the middle of the night, or whatever constituted night on the castle ship. “Come here.”

            Keith led Lance to his bed, and the two of them climbed in. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith, pulling him close. He wanted to hear his heartbeat, make sure he was alive. “What happened?” Keith asked.

            “Nightmare.”

            “Mmm, I’m safe. You don’t have to worry,” Keith murmured. “I’ll protect you.”

            The pain in Lance’s chest faded and sleepily Keith pressed his lips against Lance’s hair. The two of them slowly fell asleep wrapped together.

 

+++

 

            The fourth day, Lance was even clingier if that was possible. Even Hunk mentioned that Lance was turning into a human octopus. Coran didn’t understand the reference, and still wasn’t sure about the creature after Hunk explained. Lance had asked Keith three times if he could kiss him. Each time Lance asked, Keith grew weaker. It was harder and harder for him to say no. Not when Lance kept whispering in his ear and brushing his thumb over the back of his hand.

            “Want to take a walk?” Lance asked.

             It was a little odd, but Keith was so done with getting weird looks from Hunk and Pidge while they sat in the common room. “Sure.”

            Lance helped him to his feet and they left.

            At first it was fun, wandering through the castle, exploring abandoned rooms. They found a few weird places and a lot of storage.

            One room had a large window showing off space, it was beautiful. “Keith, can I kiss you?”

            “Are-are you sure that’s a good idea?”

            Lance moved closer and Keith stepped backwards. “I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t want to kiss you.”

            “I’m just,” Keith said swallowing hard, his cheeks red.

            “I want to kiss you, please,” Lance whispered.

            Lance’s eyes were dark blue staring at him. His hands were on either side of Keith, slowly moving closer to him. “Can I kiss you?”

            Keith knew he should say no, that the venom was the only reason he was asking to kiss him. A teenage boy could only say no to someone as attractive as Lance for so long. “Yes.”

            Soft lips pressed hesitantly against his and Keith let his eyes fall shut. Warm fingers cupped his face, their noses bumping together. Except for the one kiss in seventh grade with a boy from his school, this was the second kiss he’d ever gotten.

Keith slotted their lips together better, moving his own against Lance’s. A soft warmth crept into his chest. Then Lance’s lips hungrily moved against Keith’s, gripping his hair tight. His back pushed against the wall, their bodies pressed tight together. Keith knew this was wrong, Lance was under the bug’s venom. Kissing Lance was intoxicating though and Keith couldn’t help it, gently biting Lance’s lower lip and groaning. His hands slid along the blue paladin’s waist sliding up under his shirt. Warm skin, soft and muscles. He almost wished he’d taken off his gloves, only his fingers able to clutch at Lance’s skin.

            Lips moved away from Keith’s mouth, kissing along his jaw and down his neck. Leaning back, he let Lance bite at his neck a soft groan sliding through his lips. “Lance,” Keith whispered his hands tightening on Lance’s hips.

            He bit down on Keith’s collarbone, licking at the bite, fingers still tangled in Keith’s hair. “I love you,” Lance whispered breathing into Keith’s shoulder deeply.

            Keith froze. Those words were deadly, dangerous, and not the truth. “I can’t-I have to go.”

            Pushing him away, Keith turned and fled.

            Lance watched him leave the pain engulfing his chest. Why didn’t he believe that Lance loved him? Would it even do any good to call after him or follow? His feet began to move before Lance could even process it, towards Keith. Always gravitating towards him.

            Shuffling around the castle, Lance searched for Keith. He wasn’t in the training room, he wasn’t in the kitchens, or the bridge. Red wouldn’t listen to him, but it was the last place he decided to search for Keith.

            Red stared down at him, her eyes cold. “Red is Keith there? I want to talk to him?”

            He didn’t mean for tears to fill his eyes, he didn’t mean for a soft sob to leave his lips. “I just want to apologize. I didn’t mean to scare him,” Lance choked out. “I can’t help but love him.”

            Clutching at his shirt, Lance sunk to the ground tears slipping down his cheeks. “Lance?”

            Hunk’s voice made him start and Lance’s head turned around. “What happened?” Hunk said hurrying over.

            Settling next to him, Hunk wrapped his arms around Lance. Normally Hunk’s hugs were the best, but they weren’t Keith. The smell was wrong, but Lance still accepted the affection. “I told Keith I loved him and he left,” Lance sobbed.

            Big hands rubbed his back in soothing circles. “It’s ok, cry it out.”

            The pain didn’t lessen the more he cried. His chest tightened, a searing pain radiating near his heart. It was hard to breath, Lance gasped. “Can’t breathe!”

            “What? I’m taking you to the med bay!” Hunk burst out.

            He scooped up his best friend, noticing the way Lance gripped the spot over his heart. Lance wheezed, his cheeks paling. Hunk moved faster, hurrying to the med bay. He didn’t know what was happening to his friend, but he wasn’t going to let him die. _‘When I secure Lance, I’m going to tear into Keith until he apologizes,’_ Hunk thought his lips set in a thin line.

            Pidge was already there, pouring some clear yellow liquid into a vial. “Hunk?” they questioned when he burst in.

            “Lance can’t breathe, I don’t know what to do,” Hunk sputtered, his hands shaking. “He’s going to die.”

            The first thing Pidge did was radio Coran over the coms to come to the med bay immediately. The next thing they did was ready a pod. “I’m so glad that I asked Coran how to do this.”

            Their mouth was set at a thin line as well, worry hidden behind glasses. “I was almost at a breakthrough with the antidote. These creatures hide their secrets well.”

            Lance arched his back, gasping loudly. “Keith, I need Keith,” he wailed softly tears leaking down his cheeks.

            Pidge swallowed hard as they punched in the codes. The pod slid up from the floor, door hissing open. “No time to change him, we just have to get him in.”

            “No, no I need Keith, please,” Lance whispered clutching still at his shirt.

            Ignoring the blue paladin’s soft words, they pressed the button and it hissed shut. Smoke curled around Lance and his eyes fluttered shut. Turning away, they pulled up the holo emitter for the pod, selecting the vitals. They were erratic, his heart rate all over the place.

            The door swished open and Coran rushed in. “What happened?” he ordered a strange anger in his voice.

            “I found Lance near the red lion and he started crying. He said he loved Keith and he left,” Hunk explained.

            “That’s not good at all. The venom could be effecting his heart,” Coran said. “Not just a figurative broken heart, but a real broken heart.”

            The tall Altean scanned the holo emitter. “As I suspected the venom has moved towards his heart. Pidge how close are you to an antidote?” Coran asked.

            “Not far. The venom is complex and nothing like I’ve seen before. I’m good with technology, but I’m a bit out of my depth here. Could you help me?”

            Coran nodded and the two went to work on the antidote. Hunk watched the pod for a while, but then decided to find Keith.

            Keith was huddled in his room. He knew he should go look for Lance, that it wasn’t good that he’d left. Still, he couldn’t believe that Lance loved him. No, not at all. Those words were dangerous. He’d loved Shiro, albeit like a brother, and it had hurt so bad for him to be ripped from him like that. He loved his Dad and he’d died. _‘Love is too hard. It hurts to much,’_ Keith thought.

            A loud knocking on his door made him jolt. When the door swished open a very angry Hunk stood outside his door. “I can-I can explain.”

            “Do you know that Lance is in a pod again? Do you even care about my best friend?” Hunk yelled.

            Guilt settled over Keith, his shoulders slumping. “Why is he in a pod? Keith asked. “And of course I care about him. I’m just-Hunk that love bug is-it’s a lie and I’m going to have to deal with the fact that he will revert back to his normal self. That he won’t even give me a second glance.”

            The words poured out of him. Without Shiro to vent to, he’d bottled up his feelings. The fact that the only reason Lance told him he loved him was because of an alien venom. “Can I see him?” Keith asked in a small voice.

            Hunk took a deep breath and let out his breath. “You put him in the pod. After you rejected him, the venom went to his heart.”

            “What?”

            “You know broken hearts, well the venom is literally giving him a broken heart.”

            Keith brushed past Hunk, or tried. The big teenager grabbed his arm stopping him. “Think really hard about going and seeing him. You weren’t there the first time he got out of the pod. Why do you want to be there the second time?”

            “I felt guilty the first time ok. I was in charge and he got hurt!” Keith screamed. “It was my fault he got hurt!”

            “So now?”

            “I care about him, I might-I don’t know Hunk. Everyone I ever loved left me, so how do you think I feel about someone telling me he loves me?”

            Tears filled his eyes, trying to spill over. Rubbing at them with the heel of his hands he sighed. “Alright, c’mon,” Hunk said. “You better be apologizing to him when he gets out.”

            Keith nodded his throat tight. He knew if he tried to speak again he’d just end up crying.

            Coran and Pidge were huddled together mixing some strange mixture together. “I think if you add ten drops of the fendery, it might work.”

            Ignoring them, Keith walked over to the pod. Dried tear stains were left on his skin, but he looked peaceful. “Is he doing better?” Hunk asked.

            “I stabilized him after you left. We’re almost finished with the antidote.”

            Pidge glared when they saw Keith, then when they saw the raw sadness on his face, they sighed. “Are you going to say sorry?”

            “Yes, and explain to him why I left.”

            Pidge gave him another glance, but went back to mixing liquids. Coran didn’t say anything, focusing on making the antidote.

            Time passed, the lights starting to darken to signify night time. Coran changed the settings and kept working. Hunk went and got food, Keith had settled in front of the pod. He had wanted to be there the first time Lance got out, but he’d panicked.

            Going back to that day, when Lance had been bitten. Seeing the ashy look on his skin and how shallow his breathing was, it was terrifying. All Keith could think of was losing another person he cared about. The paladins had rushed back to the lions.

            “I’ll be here this time,” Keith murmured putting a hand on the cold glass.

            “Eureka!” Pidge exclaimed making everyone jump.

            Allura had come in to check on them, setting a blanket over Keith’s shoulders. She’d given him a small smile and went to check Lance’s vitals. She at least understood about losing someone she cared about.

            “We got it, the antidote. Now just to administrate it.”

            “Should we wait for Lance to wake?” Keith asked.

            “It should help with his recovery though,” Coran said. “My boy I know you want to apologize to him first, but it will help.”

            “Ok.”

            The liquid, which glowed a bright orange, was injected into a port in the pod. It clouded around Lance. Allura looked over his vitals and a smile curled on his lips. “It’s working, the venom is dissipating.”

            Then the pod hissed open and Lance stumbled out. Keith reached out to steady him. “What happened? Keith why are you here?”

            It worked, Lance was back to his normal self. “I uh-I’m sorry.”

            “For what?”  
            “Don’t you remember?” Hunk asked.

            Lance blinked a few times, trying to think back. Then the last four days flooded back all at once. He stiffened turning to stare at Keith his cheeks heating. “I kissed you.”

            “Yeah, you did.”

            Lance groaned letting his shoulders slump. “Just shoot me out the air lock now.”

            Keith stepped back, letting him go. A tiny part of him protested the lost warmth and the familiar hands. “I’m sorry Lance.”

            He turned to leave only for Hunk to stop him. “Nope you two have to hash this out. No leaving.”

            Pulling him back, Hunk settled Keith in front of Lance. “You two need to talk, like now.”

            Hunk ushered everyone else out of the med bay, the door swishing behind them. “I know you didn’t mean it when you said you loved me, but I-I didn’t want to believe it. I think I would’ve panicked if you said it to me not on alien love bug venom,” Keith said. “I’ve lost everyone I’ve loved and I’m just-I’m just afraid.”   

            His voice had lowered to a whisper, eyes on his boots. “I understand that and yeah the venom was pretty-well potent-but I do care about you. I just put a rivalry between us because I thought I never had a chance with you,” Lance replied.

            “So, you-you really love me?” Keith whispered.

            “That might’ve been the venom, but I know you’re stupid attractive, you’re a good friend, and I care about you a lot.”

            “I-I thought you would go back to yourself, flirting with girls and ignoring me. The only time we talk is when we fight.”

            “I like it, it’s fun, but yeah. I’m bi Keith, it’s just I dunno easier flirting with girls.”

            “So, could I kiss you for real?” Keith asked his heart in his throat. “No love bug venom.”

            “Yeah I’d like that.”

            This time Keith cupped Lance’s face with his hands, leaning up just slightly and pressing their lips together.

            Then the door to the med bay swished open and the rest of the group cheered. “Took you two long enough,” Hunk said.

            “You owe me thirty GAC now Hunk,” Pidge said.

            The two broke apart, Lance sliding his hand into Keith’s. “You bet on us?”

            Pidge shrugged. “I only bet on my friends. Keith remember you still have to find Shiro first or I win forty GAC.”

            Lance just gaped. “Why wasn’t I told?”

            “Because you have a terrible poker face Lance,” Hunk retorted.

            “Now that you two have apparently gotten through both your pining selves, why don’t we all go eat lunch, cause I’m starving,” Hunk said.

            “Does this mean you’re my space boyfriend?” Lance asked.

            “Why is everything space with you?”

            “Is that a no?” Lance said pouting.

            “Of course I’ll be your boyfriend.”

            “Space boyfriend,” Lance crowed swinging their hands back and forth.

            “I don’t know if that antidote was affective, you didn’t change much from before.”

            “Take that back!”

            Keith leaned over and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek then started running. “I’m gonna get you Kogane!”

            Laughing, which was the most beautiful sound to Lance, he raced after his boyfriend.

 


End file.
